Power Challenge

The Make Orange Green POWER Challenge is a way for the UT community to demonstrate its commitment to reducing the university’s environmental impact. The POWER Challenge is a month-long competition that pits UT residence halls against each other in a battle to see which hall is the greenest. (POWER stands for Programs of Water, Energy, and Recycling.)

A variety of different actions will award Res Halls points. Throughout the month a variety of prizes will go to RAs and residents with cool programs, awesome bulletin boards, and dedication to making their floor go green. But this is a Res Hall v Res Hall competition so at the end of October, the residence hall with the most points wins the POWER Challenge—along with bragging rights, the “Mo Green” trophy, and another TBD prize!

October 6th- October 31st

Program and Point Descriptions

Service Projects (5-Points)

Community service is an important part of sustainability which is why we include volunteering as a part of the POWER Challenge. Any community service project completed during the challenge may be recorded by RAs, Hall Directors, and residents. Below are a few volunteer opportunities (please note that these are not the only service projects that will count but simply a few examples for our partners):

Game Day Recycling—October 5 and 6, 19 and 20, meet at Facilities Services
Volunteer with game day recycling and get a free t-shirt/food. There are 2 shifts on Saturday and 2 shifts on Sunday. To sign-up go to recycle.utk.edu (***reminder, volunteer shifts will not be announced until a Game Time is confirmed).

Campus events, lectures, and tours (5-Points)

This is just a small list of events that residents can submit for POWER Challenge Points for their hall! We highly encourage students to seek out other environmental activities to participate in throughout the challenge. Each event is 5 points per attendee.

UT Farmer’s Market- October 8, 15 and 22 at the UT Gardens

Bike-In Movie- October 20 in the HSS Amphitheater

Energy and the Environment Forum- October 23 at the Baker Center

Sustainability Day Celebration & Concert- October 23 in Presidential Courtyard

Halloween Blackout Bash-October 30 in Presidential Courtyard
Turn off your lights and come to Presidential Courtyard for a Halloween Party with a recycled costume contest, pumpkin carving, and Project VEGGIE. While you’re at the bash, we will be counting the windows with their lights off from 8-9pm to show commitment to the Power Down Pledge.

On-going Programs

Water, Energy, and Recycling

Water usage, electricity usage and recycling will be rated per-resident. For example, the hall with the lowest per-resident water use receives 120 points and the hall with the highest receives only 10 points. This goes for each of the three categories.

Residence Hall Programs

Residence hall programs will receive 60 points per program plus 3 points per attendee. In order for a program to be considered a residence hall program, each floor must be represented by at least one resident. Hall programs are meant to be interactive and responsive and promote environmental education around the week’s theme.

Floor Programs

Floor programs will receive 30 points per program plus 3 points per attendee. Floor programs must be interactive and educational in order to receive points.

Bulletin Boards

Bulletin boards are each worth 15 points. Bulletin boards must be educational and detailed so have fun and great creative RAs!

Educational Flyers

Educational flyers are worth 10 points per flyer design. Educational flyers are not meant to promote the POWER Challenge, but to provide educational information for residents. Examples of these would include: flyers in the bathroom about reducing shower times and turning off water while shaving or brushing your teeth or instructional/informational flyers about waste and recycling in the trash room. Points are not awarded for each flyer that is hung, but rather for each different educational flyer.

Pledges

Each pledge is worth 3 points. This can be as simple as being in a spreadsheet format but I urge you to get creative. If you are able to do a litter pick-up and have the residents pledge to use reusable bottles on cleaned out bottled waters, then you would qualify for having done a floor program or service project as well as getting points per pledge.